Will the endophytic fungus Phomopsis liquidambari increase N-mineralization in maize soil?

Endophytes can be developed into biocontrol agents and can be fungi, bacteria, or archaea that live inside plant tissues without causing symptoms of disease. Phomopsis liquidambari is an endophytic fungus that plays an important ecosystem role as a biofertilizer by helping its host obtain soil nitrogen. How this fungus impacts N mineralization and microbial communities is little known. Our understanding of soil nutrient transformations and soil-plant-microbe interactions in Phomopsis liquidambari-crop versus conventional crop systems is incomplete. This study provided a better understanding of the effect of Phomopsis liquidambari on nitrogen mineralization and investigated the interaction between P. liquidambari and nitrogen, which in turn will be helpful to the farmer in reducing the required amount of soil N fertilizer. This change in N availability in maize soil will have significant implications for soil productivity and plant N utilization, especially in N-limited soils, and significantly reduce the required amount of soil N fertilizer. The effect of P. liquidambari on N mineralization in maize soil was investigated by treating it with four levels of N (urea) at rates of 0, 1.25, 2.5, and 3.75 g of nitrogen. N-mineralization was determined by the anaerobic incubation method. Were stored for 7 days in an incubator at a constant 37 C. A colorimetric microplate procedure was used for NH4+-N analysis. A significant increase in the available NH4+-N contents was reported in soil maize (Zea mays L.) inoculated with P. liquidambari, which increased by 80%. A significant increase in N-mineralization was observed under all N conditions. This work highlighted the importance of the fungal endophyte for soil N-mineralization with lower N input. Using this fungal agent will almost certainly help reduce fertilizer input.

Development of Bioactive Scaffolds for Orthopedic Applications by Designing Additively Manufactured Titanium Porous Structures: A Critical Review.

We overview recent findings achieved in the field of model-driven development of additively manufactured porous materials for the development of a new generation of bioactive implants for orthopedic applications. Porous structures produced from biocompatible titanium alloys using selective laser melting can present a promising material to design scaffolds with regulated mechanical properties and with the capacity to be loaded with pharmaceutical products. Adjusting pore geometry, one could control elastic modulus and strength/fatigue properties of the engineered structures to be compatible with bone tissues, thus preventing the stress shield effect when replacing a diseased bone fragment. Adsorption of medicals by internal spaces would make it possible to emit the antibiotic and anti-tumor agents into surrounding tissues. The developed internal porosity and surface roughness can provide the desired vascularization and osteointegration. We critically analyze the recent advances in the field featuring model design approaches, virtual testing of the designed structures, capabilities of additive printing of porous structures, biomedical issues of the engineered scaffolds, and so on. Special attention is paid to highlighting the actual problems in the field and the ways of their solutions.

Smart chemometrics-assisted spectrophotometric methods for efficient resolution and simultaneous determination of paracetamol, caffeine, drotaverine HCl along with three of their corresponding related impurities.

Three novel, simple and accurate multivariate spectrophotometric assisted mathematical techniques were developed for determination of paracetamol, caffeine, drotaverine HCl and their related impurities. The used multivariate algorithms are principal component regression (PCR), partial least squares (PLS), and synergy intervals partial least squares (siPLS). Linearity of the suggested methods was found to be (1.00-14.60, 1.40-7.00, 1.40-3.80, 1.00-3.00, 1.50-3.50 and 2.50-4.50 µg/mL) for paracetamol, caffeine, drotaverine HCl, and their related impurities; p-aminophenol, theophylline and homoveratric acid, correspondingly. The presented methods were effectively implemented in the determination of the cited compounds in their laboratory prepared mixtures. Commercially available tablet preparation was also analyzed using the applied methods where no impurities were detected and without interference from tablet additives. Moreover, statistical analysis did not reveal any noticeable differences between the obtained results and those acquired from the reported method in terms of accuracy and precision. The developed multivariate algorithms were validated by means of internal and external validation sets. The obtained results showed the siPLS algorithm's superiority to PCR and PLS according to the values of correlation coefficient values (r) and the lowest root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP). The combination of four subintervals [10, 12, 14, and 17] produced the highest efficiency model. Furthermore, these methods may be an applicable substitute to HPLC ones in quality control laboratories during rush of analyses where several samples have to be analyzed in a short time.

Quality of Life Among Children With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Alahsa: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common endocrine disease in children, and its annual prevalence is increasing worldwide. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a crucial indicator of chronic illnesses such as DM. This study aimed to assess the HRQoL and determine the associated factors among children and adolescents with type 1 DM in Alahsa region in 2022. METHODS: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in the DiabeterSA center using the Arabic version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQl 3.2). All patients aged 5-16 years and diagnosed with type 1 DM were included in the study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted during the patients' routine visits to the outpatient clinic from September 2022 to January 2023. RESULT: A total of 254 children aged 5-16 years (mean age: 10.87 ± 2.89 years) were recruited. The mean HRQoL total score reported by the children and adolescents was 72.61 ± 15.36. Older age, higher family socioeconomic status, excellent school performance, and higher parental education level, particularly in mothers, were significantly associated with higher total HRQoL scores. In the regression analysis, male sex (ß = -0.157,P = 0.018), older age (ß = 0.246, P <0.001), and excellent school performance (ß = -0.290, P < 0.001) were identified as independent predictors of the HRQoL total score. Nearly 19% of the participants achieved glycemic control. CONCLUSION: The quality of life of children and adolescents with type 1 DM in Alahsa region was relatively good. Increased age, good family economic status, and higher parent education levels positively influenced the participants' quality of life. Therefore, regular evaluation of HRQoL is recommended for children and adolescents with type 1 DM to identify problems and initiate an appropriate intervention for improving child health and the health care system.

A novel approach toward skin cancer classification through fused deep features and neutrosophic environment.

Variations in the size and texture of melanoma make the classification procedure more complex in a computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system. The research proposes an innovative hybrid deep learning-based layer-fusion and neutrosophic-set technique for identifying skin lesions. The off-the-shelf networks are examined to categorize eight types of skin lesions using transfer learning on International Skin Imaging Collaboration (ISIC) 2019 skin lesion datasets. The top two networks, which are GoogleNet and DarkNet, achieved an accuracy of 77.41 and 82.42%, respectively. The proposed method works in two successive stages: first, boosting the classification accuracy of the trained networks individually. A suggested feature fusion methodology is applied to enrich the extracted features' descriptive power, which promotes the accuracy to 79.2 and 84.5%, respectively. The second stage explores how to combine these networks for further improvement. The error-correcting output codes (ECOC) paradigm is utilized for constructing a set of well-trained true and false support vector machine (SVM) classifiers via fused DarkNet and GoogleNet feature maps, respectively. The ECOC's coding matrices are designed to train each true classifier and its opponent in a one-versus-other fashion. Consequently, contradictions between true and false classifiers in terms of their classification scores create an ambiguity zone quantified by the indeterminacy set. Recent neutrosophic techniques resolve this ambiguity to tilt the balance toward the correct skin cancer class. As a result, the classification score is increased to 85.74%, outperforming the recent proposals by an obvious step. The trained models alongside the implementation of the proposed single-valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs) will be publicly available for aiding relevant research fields.

Synthesis of New Bis(pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines) Linked to Different Spacers as Potential MurB Inhibitors.

An efficient protocol was adopted to efficiently prepare three new series of bis(pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines) linked to different spacers. The new bis(pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines) were prepared in 80-90 % yields by reacting the respective bis(enaminones) and 4-(4-substituted benzyl)-1H-pyrazole-3,5-diamines in pyridine at reflux temperature for 5-7 h. The new products showed a wide spectrum of antibacterial activity against six different bacterial strains. In general, propane- and butane-linked bis(pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines), which are attached to 3-(4-methyl- or 4-methoxybenzyl) units, had the best antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values up to 2.5 and 5.1 µM, respectively. Additionally, the previous products demonstrated promising MurB inhibitory activity with IC50 values up to 7.2 µM.

Microstructural Assessment, Mechanical and Corrosion Properties of a Mg-Sr Alloy Processed by Combined Severe Plastic Deformation.

The development of high-performance biodegradable alloys with controllable corrosion rates to be used for manufacturing advanced implants is a hot topic of modern materials science and biomedicine. This work features the changes in microstructure, corrosion behavior and mechanical properties of the Mg-2 wt.%Sr alloy progressively induced by equal-channel angular pressing, high-pressure torsion and annealing. We show that such processing leads to significant microstructure refinement including diminishing grain size, defect accumulation and fragmentation of the initial eutectics. We demonstrate that the application of severe plastic deformation and heat treatment is capable of considerably enhancing the mechanical and corrosion performance of a biodegradable alloy of the Mg-Sr system. The best trade-off between strength, plasticity and the corrosion resistance has been achieved by annealing of the Mg-Sr alloy subjected to combined severe plastic deformation processing.

A reversed-phase-high performance liquid chromatography method for simultaneous determination of paracetamol, caffeine, drotaverine HCl and their related impurities with dissolution profiling of their tablets and greenness profile assessment.

A sensitive, specific and eco-friendly reversed-phase-HPLC method was developed and validated for the determination of paracetamol, caffeine and drotaverine HCl along with their related impurities. The separation was accomplished using an X-bridge C18 column (5 µm; 250 mm × 4.6 mm inner diameter) and a green mobile phase consisting of methanol and 0.02 M phosphate buffer at pH 5.0 in the gradient elution mode. The detector used was a diode array detector. The proposed method was validated in accordance with the International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines. Linear regressions were found in the range of 1-100, 1-100, 2-60, 1-20, 0.50-30 and 1-15 µg/mL for paracetamol, caffeine, drotaverine HCl, p-aminophenol, theophylline and 3,4-dimethoxyphenylacetic acid, respectively. The suggested method was successfully applied for the determination of the studied drugs in their tablet dosage form without interference from any excipients. No discernible difference was found between the obtained results and official or reported methods, statistically, in terms of both accuracy and precision. Dissolution profiling of the studied tablet was also performed using the suggested procedure. Moreover, the greenness profile was assessed using three different tools, namely, the National Environmental Methods Index, the Analytical Eco-Scale and the Analytical GREEnness Metric Approach. The acquired results assert the agreement of the assay with green chemistry principles.

Influence of Decreased Temperature of Tensile Testing on the Annealing-Induced Hardening and Deformation-Induced Softening Effects in Ultrafine-Grained Al-0.4Zr Alloy.

The influence of decreased temperature of tensile testing on annealing-induced hardening (AIH) and deformation-induced softening (DIS) effects has been studied in an ultrafine-grained (UFG) Al-Zr alloy produced by high-pressure torsion. We show that the UFG Al-Zr alloy demonstrates a DIS effect accompanied by a substantial increase in the elongation to failure δ (up to δ ≈ 30%) depending on the value of additional straining. Both the AIH and DIS effects weaken with a decrease in the tensile test temperature. The critical deformation temperatures were revealed at which the AIH and DIS effects are suppressed. The activation energy Q of plastic flow has been estimated for the UFG Al-Zr alloy in the as-processed, subsequently annealed and additionally strained states. It was shown that the annealing decreases the Q-value from ~80 kJ/mol to 23-28 kJ/mol, while the subsequent additional straining restores the initial Q-value. Alloying with Zr results in the expansion of the temperature range of the AIH effect manifestation to lower temperatures and results in the change in the Q-value in all of the studied states compared to the HPT-processed Al. The obtained Q-values and underlying flow mechanisms are discussed in correlation with specific microstructural features and in comparison to the UFG Al.

The Microstructure and Strength of UFG 6060 Alloy after Superplastic Deformation at a Lower Homologous Temperature.

The paper reports on the features of low-temperature superplasticity of the heat-treatable aluminum Al-Mg-Si alloy in the ultrafine-grained state at temperatures below 0.5 times the melting point as well as on its post-deformation microstructure and tensile strength. We show that the refined microstructure is retained after superplastic deformation in the range of deformation temperatures of 120-180 °C and strain rates of 5 × 10-3 s-1-10-4 s-1. In the absence of noticeable grain growth, the ultrafine-grained alloy maintains the strength up to 380 MPa after SP deformation, which considerably exceeds the value (250 MPa) for the alloy in the peak-aged coarse-grain state. This finding opens pathways to form high-strength articles of Al-Mg-Si alloys after superplastic forming.

Protective Effect of Portulaca oleracea Extract Against Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Neuroinflammation, Memory Decline, and Oxidative Stress in Mice: Potential Role of miR-146a and miR-let 7.

Neuroinflammation is an adaptive immune response to the central nervous system (CNS) injury induced by infection or toxins. MicroRNAs (miRs) showed critical roles in neuroinflammation as either proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory molecules. Interestingly, Portulaca oleracea (purslane) is an edible plant capable of ameliorating several diseases, including headache, burns, and diabetes; however, its effect on the neuroinflammation-associated miRs was not previously investigated. This study aimed to investigate the effect of aqueous purslane extract on the neuroinflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mice and to identify its effect on animal cognition, oxidative stress, and expressions of miR-146a and miR-let 7. Adult mice were divided into the following groups: Normal group, LPS group, and Purslane+LPS group. Novel target recognition test, brain histopathology, and measurement of oxidative stress and inflammatory markers were performed. The results showed that LPS group exhibited significant decline in the cognitive memory, brain histopathological injury and a decrease in the number of intact neurons compared to the normal group. Furthermore, the LPS group showed a significant increase in malondialdehyde concentration, whereas superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were decreased. The LPS group also showed an increase in the inflammatory markers tumor necrosis factor-α and nuclear factor kappa B and downregulation of miR-146a and miR-let 7 expressions in the brain cells compared to the normal group, P value <.05. Interestingly, all these changes were reversed by administration of the aqueous purslane extract. In conclusion, the aqueous purslane extract protected from LPS-induced neuroinflammation and memory decline in mice through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect where upregulation of miR-146a and miR-1et 7 expressions was involved.

Cardiovascular system and coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19): mutual injuries and unexpected outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular system involvement in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has gained great interest in the scientific community. MAIN BODY: Several studies reported increased morbidity and mortality among COVID-19 patients who had comorbidities, especially cardiovascular diseases like hypertension and acute coronary syndrome (ACS). COVID-19 may be associated with cardiovascular complications as arrhythmia, myocarditis, and thromboembolic events. We aimed to illustrate the interactions of COVID-19 disease and the cardiovascular system and the consequences on clinical decision as well as public health. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 has negative consequences on the cardiovascular system. A high index of suspicion should be present to avoid poor prognosis of those presenting with unusual presentation.

Determinants of tobacco cessation among patients with chronic diseases (diabetes/hypertension) enrolled in Ministry of Health Tobacco Cessation Clinics, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 2012-2017: A case control study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate factors associated with tobacco cessation among patients with (diabetes or hypertension) who attended Ministry of Health (MOH) Tobacco Cessation Clinics (TCC), Saudi Arabia over the years 2012-2017. METHODS: A case control study was conducted with 402 respondents. Data collection took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from January 2018 to April 2018. Cases were patients with diabetes or hypertension who had been abstinent from tobacco for at least 6 months after attending MOH tobacco cessation clinics. Controls were patients with chronic diseases who had not quit tobacco after cessation clinics. Data were collected through a questionnaire by telephone interviews. Descriptive analysis, bivariate analysis, and multivariable regression were carried out. RESULTS: Overall, 85 (21.1%) respondents had successfully quit tobacco, while 317 (78.9%) had not. Among those who had not quit cigarettes, 97 (42.4%) had reduced cigarette consumption, the mean difference in cigarette smoking from before to after MOH TCC was 01.812±5.928 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.584-1.040). Most of those who used other forms of tobacco 16 (72.7%) had not changed their consumption. The likelihood of successfully quitting tobacco increased with those lower educational level (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=17.01, 95% CI: 1.00-289.2, p=0.05) and among those who reported controlled hypertension (AOR=17.8, 95% CI: 1.5-209.6, p=0.02). CONCLUSION: To increase abstention rates, chronic disease counseling with regular follow-ups, providing toll-free telephone services should be considered. More effort is needed to reduce non-cigarette tobacco consumption.

RP-HPLC Method for the Simultaneous Determination of a Quaternary Mixture of Propyphenazone, Flavoxate HCl and Two of Their Official Impurities with Dissolution Profiling of Their Tablets.

BACKGROUND: Determination of different drugs in the presence of their impurities is now receiving attention from regulatory authorities such as the ICH and the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a reversed-phase (RP)-HPLC method for the simultaneous separation and quantification of a quaternary mixture of propyphenazone, flavoxate HCl, and their official impurities; phenazone and 3-methylflavone-8-carboxylic acid, respectively. Then utilize the validated method as an in vitro methodology to monitor the rate of release of the active ingredients from Cistalgan® tablets. METHODS: RP-HPLC method was applied using Kinetex® coreshell C8 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm I.D., particle size 5 µm) and acetonitrile: phosphate buffer pH 3.50 (42:58, v/v) as the mobile phase with UV detection at 240.0 nm. RESULTS: The studied components were eluted with average retention times of 2.80, 3.40, 4.20, and 5.90 min for phenazone, flavoxate HCl, 3-methylflavone-8-carboxylic acid, and propyphenazone, respectively within linearity range of 1.00-60.00 µg/mL propyphenazone, 3.00-60.00 µg/mL flavoxate HCl and 0.50-40.00 µg/mL of the specified impurities. CONCLUSIONS: The suggested method could be considered as the first validated analytical method for the simultaneous determination of the studied components and proved to be accurate, precise, sensitive, and robust. HIGHLIGHTS: The proposed method displays a useful analytical tool for dissolution profiling and clear discrimination of both active ingredients from their impurities along with impurities profiling.

Anti-inflammatory, antiallergic and COVID-19 protease inhibitory activities of phytochemicals from the Jordanian hawksbeard: identification, structure-activity relationships, molecular modeling and impact on its folk medicinal uses.

On Wednesday 11th March, 2020, the world health organization (WHO) announced novel coronavirus (COVID-19, also called SARS-CoV-2) as a pandemic. Due to time shortage and lack of either a vaccine and/or an effective treatment, many trials focused on testing natural products to find out potential lead candidates. In this field, an edible and folk medicinal Jordanian plant Crepis sancta (Asteraceae) was selected for this study. Phytochemical investigation of its enriched polyphenolic extract afforded four eudesmane sesquiterpenes (1-4) together with (6S,9R)-roseoside (5) and five different methylated flavonols (6-10). Structure elucidation of isolated compounds was unambiguously determined based on HRESIMS, X-ray crystallography, and exhaustive 1D and 2D NMR experiments. All isolated compounds were assessed for their in vitro anti-inflammatory, antiallergic and in silico COVID-19 main protease (Mpro) inhibitory activities. Among the tested compounds, compounds 5-10 revealed potent anti-inflammatory, antiallergic and COVID-19 protease inhibitory activities. Chrysosplenetin (10) is considered as a promising anti-inflammatory and antiallergic lead structure adding to the phytotherapeutic pipeline. Moreover, its inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, supported by docking and molecular dynamic studies, strengthens its potential as a lead structure paving the way toward finding out a natural remedy to treat and/or to control the current COVID-19 pandemic.

In vivo antiulcer activity, phytochemical exploration, and molecular modelling of the polyphenolic-rich fraction of Crepis sancta extract.

Bioactivity-guided investigation of the methanol extract of Crepis sancta aerial parts, collected off Al-Tafilah, South Jordan, was applied, and in this study, the extract was explored for its phytochemical components and in vivo antiulcer activity. In addition, a docking study involving the purified compounds with the newly crystalized gastric proton pump (PDB # 5YLU) was performed. In-depth phytochemical investigation using the state-of-the-art chromatographic and analytical techniques was implemented resulting in the identification of two eudesmane-type sesquiterpenoids, 3-oxo-γ-costic acid (1) and its methyl ester (2) together with seven different methoxylated flavonols (3-9) as the extract's major components. The in vivo antiulcer study at three different doses (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg) against ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in male albino rats, compared to omeprazole (20 mg/kg) as a standard proton pump inhibitor antiulcer drug, revealed that the tested extract, at the middle and the highest doses, featured comparable or even superior activities relative to omeprazole as deduced from histopathological examination, in particular with regard to reducing inflammatory cell infiltration and ceasing mucosal haemorrhage. The tested extract revealed also a dose-dependent reduction in the volume and titrable acidity of the gastric juice together with a dose-dependent increase in the protective gastric mucin content which may explain the noticeable gastroprotective effect. Molecular modelling study of the isolated compounds showed a binding mode similar to the co-crystallized substrate vonoprazan in 5YLU which strengthens the importance of the tested extract as a potential natural remedy for treating gastric ulcer.

Superior Strength and Multiple Strengthening Mechanisms in Nanocrystalline TWIP Steel.

The strengthening mechanism of the metallic material is related to the hindrance of the dislocation motion, and it is possible to achieve superior strength by maximizing these obstacles. In this study, the multiple strengthening mechanism-based nanostructured steel with high density of defects was fabricated using high-pressure torsion at room and elevated temperatures. By combining multiple strengthening mechanisms, we enhanced the strength of Fe-15 Mn-0.6C-1.5 Al steel to 2.6 GPa. We have found that solute segregation at grain boundaries achieves nanograined and nanotwinned structures with higher strength than the segregation-free counterparts. The importance of the use of multiple deformation mechanism suggests the development of a wide range of strong nanotwinned and nanostructured materials via severe plastic deformation process.

Validated Chromatographic Methods for the Simultaneous Determination of Sulfacetamide Sodium and Prednisolone Acetate in their Ophthalmic Suspension.

Two specific, sensitive, rapid and accurate chromatographic methods have been developed, optimized and validated for the simultaneous determination of sulfacetamide sodium and prednisolone acetate in pure forms and in their binary mixture. The first method is an isocratic Reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography method where a rapid separation was achieved on a Zorbax ODS column using a green mobile phase of methanol: water (80:20, v/v) and pH adjusted to 5.0 ± 0.2 with orthophosphoric acid. The retention times (tR) were 2.21 and 3.64 min for sulfacetamide sodium and prednisolone acetate, respectively. The separated peaks were detected at 254 nm. The second method is a thin layer chromatography-densitometric method where the two drugs were separated on silica gel plates using a simple mobile phase of chloroform: methanol (90:10, v/v) and scanning of the separated bands was at 254 nm. The retardation factors (Rf) values were 0.37 and 0.64 for sulfacetamide sodium and prednisolone acetate, respectively. The suggested methods were validated in compliance with the ICH guidelines and were successfully applied to determine both drugs in their pure forms, laboratory prepared mixtures and dosage form. The obtained results were statistically compared to the official method where no significant difference was obtained with respect to both accuracy and precision.

Therapeutic effect of mesenchymal stem cells on experimentally induced hypertensive cardiomyopathy in adult albino rats.

Hypertensive heart diseases affect millions of people worldwide. We aimed to investigate the hypertensive left ventricular histological changes and assess the effectiveness of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) therapy in the treatment of hypertensive cardiomyopathy. Adult male albino rats were assigned into two groups: group I (control), group II (Experimental) subdivided into subgroup IIa (hypertensive) and subgroup IIb (stem cell therapy). Left ventricles (LVs) were processed for light and electron microscope. Mallory's trichrome and immunostaining for caspase-3 and desmin were carried out. Hypertension caused left ventricular histological and immunohistochemical changes that had been effectively improved by MSCs therapy.

Segmental Absence of Intestinal Musculature in a 64-Year-Old Female: Case Report and Literature Review.

BACKGROUND Segmental absence of intestinal musculature is a well described entity in premature infants. It presents with peritonitis, bowel perforation, and obstruction. The diagnosis is based on pathologic observation of absence of intestinal musculature. Researchers hypothesized that this entity is a result of a vascular accident during embryogenesis. However, segmental absence of intestinal musculature is no longer limited to the pediatric population. Recently, a few cases have been described in adults with and without significant vascular diseases. This change in the age of the affected population with segmental absence of intestinal musculature makes the understanding of the pathogenesis of this entity even more challenging. CASE REPORT Here, we report a case of segmental absence of intestinal musculature in a 64-year-old female. The patient presented to the emergency room with sudden onset of abdominal pain and signs of peritonitis. Abdominal computed tomography showed free air in the abdomen. Laparotomy was performed, and a perforation involving the descending colon was identified. Left hemicolectomy was performed. Pathologic examination of the resected colon showed segmental absence of intestinal musculature. CONCLUSIONS Although the pathologic diagnosis of segmental absence of intestinal musculature is straightforward, the assumption that this condition is limited to the pediatric population is a major player in overlooking this diagnosis in adults. Pathologists should be aware that this condition can present in adults and is segmental. Gross and microscopic examination of perforated intestine is required to reach the correct diagnosis. To our knowledge, twelve cases of this entity have been described in adults. Here we present the thirteenth case of segmental absence of intestinal musculature in an adult, and we discuss the clinical and pathologic findings of this entity as well as its pathogenesis.